


An Unexpected Beginning

by Idontwritefanficx



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Next Door Neighbors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 20:48:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4034062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idontwritefanficx/pseuds/Idontwritefanficx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey Milkovich is a tough guy. Mickey Milkovich is a thug. Mickey Milkovich is afraid of spiders.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unexpected Beginning

Mickey Milkovich lived a simple life. He got up everyday around noon, showered, ate, sometimes robbed random tourists during the afternoon, ate, did deals in clubs and pubs in the evenings, returned to his apartment, usually alone, and repeated this exact process the next day. And so it had been for nearly four years. It was boring, but it was his life. Relatively low risk, just a little bit illegal, and he still got a good eight hours sleep every night. However, his life was definitely due for something new, and that something new came along in the form of a lanky red head who just so happened to be his new hero.

 

This is a tale of fear and bravery, of heroes and monsters, of small insects and attractive neighbours. This is the unexpected and surprisingly domestic beginning of an epic romance that would last the rest of Mickey Milkovich's life. And he had his crippling and embarrassing fear of anything with more than four legs to thank for it.

 

Why was it that the worst things seemed to happen when they were least expected? Sure it wasn't the end of the world, but it did put big damper on Mickey's mood. It was nearly one in the afternoon  and Mickey had just gotten out of the shower. He was walking around his bedroom in a towel when he noticed the giant fucking spider perched on the wall above his bed. Mickey froze, and almost comically, his towel dropped to the floor with a soft thud. Spiders. Mickey hated spiders.

  
  
His mind flashed back to rooting through rubbish piles and cabinets in his old house for money or weed and stumbling across Aragog's fucking spawn in every dusty corner. All spiders were different too: some had short legs and large, brutish bodies, some had thinner bodies and long menacing legs. Some were slow. Some were fast. But then there was the most dreaded type of all: the scuttlers.

  
  
And this spider was definitely a scuttler. Mickey could deal with small calm spiders - Mandy used to call him a pussy whenever he asked her to get rid of them - but there's was no fucking way he was going near this one. This was the kind that would run like Usain Bolt with eight creepy legs Which left him in the unfortunate situation of that he was alone in his apartment with a giant creature and there was no one to protect him.

  
Mickey chanced moving nearer to the thing on his wall, but lost his nerve and fled the room, grabbing his fallen towel on his way past. _"Deep breaths, Mickey"_   he told himself. His skin was flushed and his heart was pounding. He was a drug dealer for fucks sake. Why was he getting this worked up over a spider? His mind ran through all the possible solutions to this giant problem. He could trick the spider onto a book and throw it out the window, he could crush it in toilet paper, trap it in a glass,or simply move to a different apartment, preferably across the city. It wasn't that drastic of a solution.

  
  
He could just move out of the room maybe, sleep on the couch, move his wardrobe and drawers into the living room... He imagined inviting someone into his apartment and the conversation that would take place. "So this is my apartment. It's got a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Oh, no, I don't sleep there, it's reserved for my _fucking spider_.”

  
  
He couldn't risk it falling into his bed or laying eggs - (do spiders lay eggs?) - or the most dreaded thought of all: that it would be gone the next time he looked. They were ugly and annoying as hell when they were visible, but there is nothing worse than when it disappears. Mickey shook his head and steeled himself. There was no other choice.

  
He wrapped his towel around his waist and left his apartment. There were three other apartments on his floor. He knew an old lady lived in the one at the end of the hall and she was nice enough, but Mickey figured she wouldn't be much help. She always smelled like tuna.

  
  
He didn't know anything about the owners of the other two apartments, so he made a random choice and knocked on one of them. About thirty seconds later the door opened and Mickey's jaw dropped as he found himself face to face with the most beautiful human being he had ever seen.

  
The man looked to be about twenty, with long limbs and muscly shoulders. He was a good head taller than Mickey with hair that was a startling red. One particularly long strand hung down the face of his face untidily. He had bright green eyes that seemed to sparkle against his smooth pale skin. He looked like one of those models in the catalogs for clothes that no one could but the Kardashians afford to buy. This man was without a doubt the most attractive person Mickey had ever seen.

  
  
Mickey was also painfully aware that he was standing naked with just a towel around his waist.

  
  
The other man raised his eyebrow and looked down at Mickey, a small smirk curling upwards at the corner of his mouth. Shit, he had noticed Mickey staring. "Can I help you?" Mickey couldn't remember why he was there. He blinked.

  
"Uh..." His mouth tried to form itself around words, but all that came out were some unintelligent vowels. "Uh, hi, I'm Mickey, I live next door."

  
  
The other man seemed to be fighting a smile, still looking surprised at his unexpected visitor. "Okay?" His eyes flashed up and down Mickey's exposed body and Mickey could feel himself blush.

  
"I'm sorry, this is so weird, but could I ask a favor?" Mickey prayed his helplessness and desperation was endearing rather than annoying. The taller man was still staring at him as replied "Depends what the favor is."

  
Mickey inhaled deeply, readying himself for ultimate shame. "Um, there's a...spider... I was wondering if you could...help?" And there it was, the most embarrassed a single person has ever been. Mickey imagined himself spontaneously bursting into flames right where he was standing. If a giant hole opened up in the ground next to him he would gladly jump in to remove himself form the burning torture he found himself in. The red haired man was definitely fighting laughter right now. His green eyes were sparking and his expression literally said _"I have been given a gift"._

  
"Yeah, I think I can help you with that." Okay, the man was definitely checking him out. Despite only standing in a towel, Mickey didn't feel violated at the man's apparent interest in him. One word from the red head and Mickey would have happily dropped the towel. Instead he just turned and walked back to his apartment, his beautiful neighbour following trailing behind him.

  
He led his way through the messy living room towards his bedroom where his greatest nightmare was currently residing peacefully on the wall. “It's in here,” Mickey told the man.

 

“Usually I make the guy buy me dinner before we go to the bedroom.” Mickey's hot neighbour joked. Mickey's heart thumped in his chest as thoughts such as _“oh my god he's gay oh my god he's so hot oh my god he's in my room oh my god I'm still in my towel”_ ran around in his head. Mickey just laughed along with him. “ _Act casual”_ he told himself. Sure, casual, that was easy. “ _Just be chill.”_

 

Mickey pointed at the spider on his wall, feeling incredibly ashamed as, looking at it, it was really fucking tiny and there was no way that Mickey Milkovich, the neighbourhood thug and resident drug dealer was afraid of something hardly bigger than a fingernail. Funny, it seemed a lot bigger earlier.

 

The man nodded, still smiling. “Do you want me to kill it or just throw it out the window?” 

 

Mickey thought about it. “I don't know man. See if you throw it out the window there's no way of knowing it won't just come back in later. I'd like to know its gone, you know? But at the same time, if we kill it, I feel like all its creepy spider family are gonna come back and get me as revenge for killing this one. I don't wanna be washing the dishes or some shit and every fucking spider in the world come out of the tap like in a fucking horror movie.” Mickey shuddered at the thought, horrified. His neighbor, however, looked like he was having the best day of his life and Mickey felt even more embarrassed after his outburst involving his thoughts on the inner workings of the arachnid hierarchy. He tried to regain some sense of composure. “I don't care man, do whatever the fuck you want”.

 

His neighbour nodded again, crossing the room and opening the window. He picked up a random magazine from the floor and quickly and painlessly urged the spider onto it and dropped it out the window. Mickey's mouth was hanging open at the bravery his neighbour showed in the face of his greatest fear, and he knew he definitely owed this man a beer. Said man turned around and looked Mickey up and down.

 

“Well, that's it, unless you have any light bulbs that need changing or shelves to be put up.” Mickey rolled his eyes at the man's teasing tone.

 

“Well I do have some pipes that need to be cleaned...” Mickey replied cockily, raising an eyebrow.

 

The red head coughed and spluttered, shocked at Mickey's shameless flirtation. “By me a beer first, then we'll see.” Mickey didn't waste time, grabbing the opportunity with both hands. (It wasn't the only thing he wanted to grab with both hands.)

 

“Then do you wanna get a beer with me later? I'll pay, seeing as you saved me from having to move apartments.”

 

His neighbour laughed and looked overjoyed. “That sounds great. I'll let you get dressed” he gestured at Mickey's still towel clad form, “but why don't you pick me up later sometime.”

 

Mickey thumbed at his lip, smiling. “Sure.” The man grinned and made his way out the apartment. He stopped with his hand on the door and called back.”I'm Ian by the way.”

 

“Mickey.”

 

The neighbour – Ian – grinned cheekily one more time. “Nice to meet you, Mickey”. He winked and disappeared out the door without another word. Mickey smiled to himself.

 

Sometimes the best things happen when they're least expected.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I actually enjoyed writing this so much. It's my first time writing fluff but I think I did it right. Right?
> 
>  
> 
> on tumblr: fade-away-tonight


End file.
